Judges relied on ‘forged’ documents, says Chiloba

Electoral agency CEO Ezra Chiloba has suggested that the Supreme Court majority who nullified the August 8 presidential election relied on forged documents.

The CEO told special investigators on Tuesday the documents used by the judges were "a sharp contrast" to the documents the IEBC had presented to them.
The justices ruling 4-2 to nullify President Uhuru Kenyatta's victory were CJ David Maraga, DCJ Philomena Mwilu, Smokin Wanjala and Isaac Lenaola. They cited major irregularities and illegalities, especially in tallying and transmission.
Chiloba recorded a four-page statement with four special investigators probing problems that led to the nullification.
NASA is demanding Chiloba's removal before the October 26 presidential rerun, saying he and his team were largely responsible for the botched poll. He has refused to leave.
The besieged CEO spent a gruelling six hours with detectives at his Anniversary Towers offices as a multi-agency team stepped up the probe into how the General Election was bungled.
Chiloba told investigators it was possible someone 'doctored' the report the judges used to reach their landmark ruling that sent shock waves throughout the continent and beyond. No African court has ever overturned the reelection of a sitting President.
The IEBC secretariat boss told investigators all the documents the IEBC filed in court had serial numbers, complete security features and all had been signed by returning officers and party agents.
Detectives also carted away from the commission documents that could be crucial in the probe.
Sources familiar with the investigations yesterday told the Star Chiloba presented certified copies of documents the IEBC presented to the Supreme Court during the hearing of the petition filed by NASA.
Chiloba, who has vowed to stay put, says the commission suffered from systemic failures that cannot be assigned to individuals.
Yesterday NASA flagbearer Raila Odinga said the opposition will continue street protests every Monday and Friday until Chiloba and nine others are removed. The opposition also demands scrapping of proposed radical amendments to election laws that would limit the IEBC chairman's power and make it virtually impossible for the Supreme Court to overturn a presidential election.i
Raila also declared zero confidence in the current IEBC to conduct another presidential election.
On Tuesday after meeting Jubilee and NASA teams, the commission hinted at inching closer to common ground on some contentious issues.
IEBC even promised to publish areas where they had a truce.
Raila disagreed.
Speaking yesterday at Okoa Kenya headquarters after meeting Gusii professionals, the former Prime Minister said NASA had not reached any agreement with IEBC.
“Do not be cheated that NASA has some agreement with IEBC and there is some progress we are party to. We have no such agreement and our faith in IEBC is zero,” the ODM chief said.
A meeting between IEBC and NASA ended in deadlock after Raila's team accused the commission of failing to address any of its "irreducible minimum" demands.
“They gave us a matrix which did not respond to a number of fundamental issues we raised in our document. There is still a big gap between us and IEBC and we have told them to close that gap,” Raila said.
The commission had a plenary meeting yesterday and discussed NASA's demands. It was not immediately known what decisions were reached, if any.

In his statement, Chiloba denied any personal responsibility and insisted there was a possibility the documents presented to the judges were forged.
“All documents presented by the IEBC had security features, serial numbers and [were] signed, contrary to the judgment by majority judges,” he said in his statement.
In their judgment, the four justices ruled that, among other things, some forms were not signed and lacked identification features. This formed part of the basis for annulment on September 1.
The judges are said to have relied on Supreme Court Registrar Esther Nyaiyaki’s report to overturn Uhuru’s victory.
The EACC has since summoned Nyaiyaki to its headquarters on Valley Road to record statements but the judiciary has declined the invitation.
The judiciary declined to release crucial documents the EACC had demanded from Nyaiyaki for its investigations.
On September 22, Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi wrote back to the EACC and said the judiciary would not release documents without a court order.
Yesterday the Law Society of Kenya criticised the EACC move to probe Nyaiyaki, saying it is an attack on the independence of the Judiciary.
In a letter to EACC chairman Eliud Wabukala, LSK president Isaac Okero also said the commission has no authority to investigate an officer of the Judiciary. He said it is the function of the Judicial Service Commission to take disciplinary action.
"The EACC has, therefore, no authority whatsoever to intervene and purport to conduct an inquiry or investigation replicating functions that under the Constitution are expressly anchored in the judiciary and ancillary organs of the judiciary including the JSC," Okero said.
He added, "Any such attempt would amount to an attack on the independence of the judiciary and constitute a blatant violation of the Constitution."
The EACC investigation into Nyaiyaki's actions results from a petition by Rashid Mohamed who seeks to quash the NASA election petition.
Last month EACC requested Amadi to submit all documents used in the Supreme Court proceedings.
Nyaiyaki was appointed by CJ Maraga to supervised a team of ICT experts appointed to examine the materials the IEBC used to declare the presidential result.
Okero defended Nyaiyaki, saying she was "acting as Registrar of the Supreme Court of Kenya, in the execution of an interim order of that court".
"It is only the Supreme Court of Kenya that has the judicial and constitutional authority to investigate any complaint as to whether or not there has been compliance with its orders," he said.
Telecommunication giant Safaricom has welcomed investigations following allegations by Raila linking the firm to alleged election rigging.
"We are ready to be investigated by any agency," CEO Bob Collymore said in a statement on Wednesday.
He said Safaricom will not be intimidated into withdrawing its services for the October 26 presidential rerun.
Raila said Safaricom was contracted by IEBC to transmit results from polling stations to a server in France, instead of transmitting them to the Kenya Integrated Electoral Management Systems (KIEMS) kits.
The Safaricom boss said it was unfortunate his staff was falsely accused and put at risk by the allegations. He said he will hold people personally responsible if any staff or their families are harmed.